Metal-base wall construction



May 26, 1959 R. H. SLOWINSKI METAL-BASE WALL CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 15.1954 Fig. l

INVENTOR. Robert H. Slowinska ATTORNEY4 United States Patent 2,887,870METAL-BASE WALL CONSTRUCTION Robert H. Slowinski, Tonawanda, N.Y.,assignor to Na-- tioual Gypsum Company, Buffalo, N.Y., a corporation ofDelaware This invention relates to wall construction and is especiallydirected to the base structure thereof.

'A metal frame wall or partition having an exposed metal baseboardextending along the floorline and ordinarily a surface of plaster flushwith and extending up ward from the baseboard is a well recognized,economical wall construction. Various known structures have beenprovided as means for supporting, at the base, the studs, lath, plasterand baseboard. A most economical and rapidly constructed means, and onewhich is least conducive to damage during subsequent operations, ishighly essential in such structures.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a partitionbase structure wherein the several elements may be applied with facilityas required and, thus, need not be applied simultaneously at a timeprior to the need for the presence of any element, avoiding interferenceof prematurely applied elements with the possibility of damage to theseobstructing elements. Briefly, this is accomplished by a novelarrangement of the means for attaching successive portions of the basestructure to one another.

A further object of the invention is to provide a partition basestructure which permits a substantial improvement in the speed oferection of the partition. Briefly, this is accomplished by providingsimplified means for attaching successive elements so that once a simplefloor runner is fixed along the desired extent of a partition,subsequent elements may be readily set in place and will beself-supporting due to their structure without requiring further stepsof attachment.

These and other objects and advantages will appear more fully whenconsidered in connection with the following detailed description of apreferred embodiment of the invention and the accompanying drawings inwhich:

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of the base portion of a wall constructed inaccordance with and embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the novel base clip included in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the base portion of the wall of Fig. 1.

Referring now to Fig. 1, the numeral designates a floor, which may be ofwood, concrete or any other of the usual construction materials. Inaccordance with the invention, an elongate floor runner 11, of U-shapedcross section, is disposed on the surface of the floor 10 extendingwhereat a partition or wall is desired to be constructed. A plurality ofholes 12 are suitably spaced along the center-line of the channel base13 for the reception of nails 14 or other suitable fasteners which aredriven therethrough into the floor 10- to alfix the runner 11 along itsdesired disposition.

Runner 11 has two short vertical flanges 20 extending upward from eachlateral edge thereof, providing means for the rapid application ofsubsequently applied elements of the partition. Fig. 1 shows thesubsequently applied 2,887,878 Patented May 26, 1959 elements applied onone flange 20 only of runner 11 to form a wall 21, it being understoodthat a partition, being two oppositely facing walls, may be constructedby similar application on the opposite flange 20 of simi' lar elements.

After positioning and aflixing runner 11 or a plurality of runners 11disposed end to end in the desired Straight line or angular relation,one to the other, the vertical studs 22 are then installed, extendingupward from runners 11 to provide horizontal support of wall 21throughout the vertical extent thereof. Studs 22 may be of an) of theusual forms, the preferred form being, as shown,

a vertically disposed U-channel, and a plurality of such studs areincorporated and disposed at positions spaced apart horizontally in theorder 16 to 24 inches throughout the extent of wall 21.

In the fabrication of wall 21, base clips 25 are slid or pushed intoposition on flanges 20, the clips 25 being preferably spaced apart adistance equal to the stud spacing and disposed on flanges 20substantially midway between stud dispositions. Clips 25 are formed froma blank of sheet metal by proper cutting and bending as describedherebelow.

At the inner base portion of clip 25, a reversely bent lip 26 forms agroove 27, suitable for a tight-fitting reception of flange 20, thegroove 27 being of suflicient depth to allow the bottom face 28 of clip25 to be supported by the floor 10 when lip 26 is disposed about flange20.

Extending upward from the opposite edge of the clip bottom-face 28 is abase strip retaining portion 30 having a top lip 31 bent over to form anangle in the order of Two cut-out tabs 32 and 33 in the retainingportion 30, cut therefrom on three sides and bent outward at the fourthto extend without the plane of the retaining portion. Lower tab 32extends outward in the plane of the bottom-face from the junction lineof the bottom-face 28 and the retaining portion 30 for a short distanceto a bend 34, from which bend the tab 32 extends upward to form a bottomlip 35. The central tab 33, bent along the top edge thereof, extendsacutely inward and downward.

Following the slip-on application of clips 25, lath 40, preferably inthe form of narrow gypsum boards, is applied to the studs 22, the bottomedges of lath 40 being disposed in the clips 25 betweenlips 26 andretaining portions 30. Central tabs 33 are bent inward sufiiciently tourge lath 40 inward against lips 26. Attachment of the lath to studs maybe by any of the usual methods and forms no part of this invention.

After applying the lath, elongate strips of metal base 41 are readilyslid o-r pushed onto the previously attached base clips 25, due to thecomplementary form thereof. The metal base 41 is a strip of any suitablelength having a constant sectional form consisting of a double reversebend 42 along the bottom edge thereof and an inverted J-bend 43 alongthe top edge. The double bend 42 forms a downward opening groove 44 fora tight-fit reception of bottom lip 35 and is formed to allow the metalbase to abut the floor 10 when so mounted on clips 25. The J-bend 43along the top edge of base 41 forms a wide groove 45, with a widthslightly less than the width of top lip 31, to provide a generallylocking engagement therewith to prevent accidental misaligning of base41 during subsequent operations.

It will be apparent that the general form of the base clip 25 and thebase 41 is such that the distance between the bent lip 26 and the outerface 50 of base 41 is equal to the total thickness of wall 21 to providethe preferred construction wherein the base 41 is flush with the wallfinished surface 51. Thus fabrication of the wall 21 is completed by theapplication of suitable coats of plaster 52, in the manner, so that thefinished surface 51, is

flush with base 41. A plaster grout 53 will also, ordinarily, be formedin or filled. into the space between applied, in the course of thewall'construction, prior to the immediate need of the element for thepurpose or functions for which it is. included. The novel base structurehas been broken down to the most desirable number of elements capable ofbeing applied to the system at the most opportune time intheconstruction schedule and due to the combinations of readily appliablecomplementary portions of the successive elements, a rapidly fabricated,clearly improved, more economical and desirable structure is provided.

I claim:

A metal base, plastered sheet lath, hollow'wall comprising an elongatefloor runner having a relatively wide, fiat, horizontally disposed, baseportion andrelatively short flanges extending upwardly from each edgethereof, said floor runner being affixed to a floor along the extent ofsaid wall, vertical studs having an end portion afiixed between saidflanges at spaced'positions along the extent of said floor runner andextending vertically therefrom, base clips slidably fixed at spacedpositions on said flanges and disposed generally outward of said flangesfor reception of sheet lath and metal base strips, sheet lath having abottom edge disposed within said clips, and elongate metal base stripsmounted on said clips, said clips each including a flange-receiving,downwardly 4 l 1 opening, U-shaped lip portion slidably afiixed uponsaid flange, an upright base strip retaining portion, and a flat,floor-engaging, bottom face therebetween providing a spacing for sheetlath receiving groove, said upright base strip retaining portion havingan upper lip slidably mounted within a downwardly opening channelportion along the top edge of said base strip and a lower cut-out tabdisposed. outwardly of the general body portion of said upright basestrip retaining portion, said tab having an upwardly extending basestrip engaging bottom lip slidably mounted within a downwardly openingchannel portion along the bottom edge of said base strip, means on saidclip maintaining said base strip in spaced relation outwardly from saidsheet lath, and a plaster coat adhering to the outer face of said sheetlath having a finished surface flush with the outer face of said basestrip and abutting the top edge of said base strip, said plasterextending as a grout into the space between said base'strip and saidsheet lath bottom edge, saidbottom edge and said top edge of said basestrip each being removable from said clip only by relative upwardmovement ofsaid base strip, and said abutting plaster coat.

preventing any upward movement of said base strip..

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,283,167 Burson May 19, 1942.. 2,313,839 Olsen Mar. 16, .1943 2,317,634Olsenv Apr. 27, 1943 2,540,305 Tomlinson Feb. 6, 1951 2,676,483 NelssonApr. 27, 1954

